Infant&#39;s harness



June 9, 1964 E. CABALLERO INFANTS HARNESS Filed July 18, 1962 FIG! FIG. 7

INVENTOR. ESPERANZA CABALLERO Man -x0.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,136,581 INFANTS HARNESS Esperanza Caballero, 3850 E. 15th St, Long Beach 4, Calif. Filed July 18, 1962, Ser. No. 210,644 4 Claims. (Cl. 297-384) The present invention relates generally to an infants harness, and more particularly to an improved device that is especially adapted to maintain an infant or small child in a high chair, and while permitting limited movement of the infant or child, preventing him from slipping or falling from the chair.

Although numerous infants garments and harnesses have been devised and marketed in the past for preventing a child from falling or slipping from a high chair, crib, or the like, the majority of these devices have been unsatisfactory in that they unduly restrain the movement of the child, causing him to become restless and unppv- A primary object in devising the present invention is to provide an improved harness for an infant or small child that may be easily and conveniently aflixed to a conventional high chair which permits a child seated therein to have sufficient freedom of movement that he does not have a sense of restraint, yet the harness prevents the child from slipping from the high chair or assuming a position from which he might fall therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved childs harness that is of relatively simple structure, can be removably affixed to a high chair, fabricated from a soft, absorbent material that may be easily Washed or cleaned as required, is easy to mount on and remove from a conventional high chair, and when so mounted, holds the child in a comfortably movable but restrained position by first means which engage the chair back, and second means extending from the forward portion of the harness to removably lock rearwardly of the chair, which second means prevents the child from assuming an upright position in the chair.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an infants harness adapted to be fabricated from a variety of standard, commercially available materials, requires no special equipment or machinery for the manufacture thereof, and can be profitably retailed at a sufficiently low price as to encourage its widespread use.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred form thereof and from the accompanying drawing illustrating that form, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of an infant seated in a conventional high chair wearing the harness of the present invention which is removably affixed to the chair;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the harness in the closed position;

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevational view of the harness in the closed position;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of the device in an open position;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of the harness mounted on a chair and in a position which restrains the movement of an infant or small child wearing the device;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical crosssectional view of a portion of the chair back and the upper portion of the harness removably afiixed thereto;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical crosssectional view of the harness taken on line 7-7 of FIG- URE 3; and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional 3,136,581 Patented June 9, 1964 lce view of that portion of the invention circled in phantom line in FIGURE 6 and identified by the numeral 8.

With continuing reference to the drawings for the general arrangement of the invention, it will be seen to include a vest-like garment A having a back 10, a first panel 12, and a second panel 14. Panels 12 and 14 are connected at the top to the back 10 by shoulder portions 12a and 14a respectively. An elongate strap 16 is afiixed to the lower forward portion of first panel 12, as best shown in FIGURE 4. Strap 16 supports a pair of rings 18 or other fastening means on the free end thereof. A second strap 20 is affixed to the lower forward portion of the second panel 14, as also shown in FIGURE 4. The outer end portion of strap 20 is adapted to be removably connected to the rings 18, or other fastening means secured to the end of strap 16 (FIGURE 3), as will later be described in detail.

The garment A also includes two identical arm openings 22 through which the arms 24 of an infant or small child B project, as illustrated in FIGURE 1. The child when wearing the harness, may be seated in a high chair C as shown in FIGURES l and 5. As also illustrated in these figures, the high chair C includes a flat seat 26, a. vertically disposed back 28, and two arms 30 which project forwardly from the back.

The harness further includes a narrow, inverted cupshaped member D, best seen in FIGURE 6, that is defined by a downwardly extending back piece 32, a front piece 34, and a pair of side pieces 33 which connect the upper portions .of the frontand back pieces. The front piece 34 is preferably substantially longer than the back piece 32, and develops into a flap 36 which is drawn under the back 28 of chair C and then extended upwardly to overlap a lower portion ofthe back piece 32. The flap 36 and the back piece 32, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 7, are provided with aligned snaps 38 that may removably interlock to hold the cup-shaped member D in position on the back 28 of chair C.

The side pieces 33 are preferably formed from a transversely stretchable elastic sheet material. Although chair C is basically conventional in structure, the back 28 thereof often differs substantially in thickness due to the design of the individual manufacturers. The transverse elasticity of the side pieces 33 permits the inverted cupshaped member D to be easily mountable on the chair back 28, irrespective of variations in thickness thereof. A rectangular sheet 40 is preferably stitched to the back piece 32 of the harness, as may'best be seen in FIGURES 3 and 6, which defines a pocket 42 in which accessories used in caring for the child B may be conveniently disposed.

The first panel 12 (FIGURE 2) has a vertical slit 44 formed in the lower portion thereof, and two slits 46 are formed in the second panel 14 which are in horizontal alignment with the slit 44. The slits 46 define a band 48 therebetween. When the harness or vest A is in the closed position as illustrated in FIGURE 2, the strap 16 is threaded through the slits 46 and under the band 48 to extend under one of the arms 30 to a position rearwardly of the chair C (FIGURES 2 and 3). The second strap 20 is threaded through the slit 44 and drawn under the arms 38 to a position to the rear of the chair C as shown in FIGURE 3. The rings 18 are used in the manner shown in FIGURE 3 to removably lock the free end portions of straps 16 and 20 together, and positioned rearwardly of chair C whereby the infant B is unable to reach them when seated in the chair as illustrated in FIGURE 1.

The vest portion A of the harness is connected by stitching 50 or other means to the front piece 34 as may best be seen in FIGURE 4. When the vest is in the closed position shown in FIGURES l, 2 and 3, with the straps 16 and 20 extended under the arms 30 and removably connected to one another rearwardly of the chair, the straps permit movement of the infant B in the chair, but prevent him from standing up in the chair or assuming other dangerous positions from which he could possibly fall from the seat 26 of the chair to sustain injury. When the cup-shaped member D is removably positioned on the back 28 of chair C and so held in position by the snaps 38 it cannot move vertically or laterally relative to the back, and as the vest A is affixed to the member D, the infant B is limited as to forward motion relative to the chair and to a degree that it is impossible for him to move forwardly sufficiently to tumble from the chair.

Thus, from this description of the operation of the invention, and particularly its use in cooperation with the chair C, it will be seen that the movement of an infant B wearing the harness is restrained while in the chair but not to the extent that he is uncomfortable enough to become restless. An infant B wearing the harness in a chair C has suflicient freedom of movement to play with toys and move about on the seat 26 of the chair within predetermined limits, yet not enough to endanger his safety and well-being.

In forming the pocket 42, a layer of rubberized material 52 or other waterproof fabric lining may be provided on the interior thereof. Likewise, the external surface of the back piece 32 adjacent sheet 4%) may be provided with a layer or lining 52 of waterproof material Thus, to a degree the pocket 42 would be impervious to water and moisture which may be on articles (not shown) deposited therein.

It will be apparent from the previous description that a wide variety of fabrics may be employed in the fabrication of the invention, but from the standpoint of softness, and ease of washing and cleansing, as well as expense, terry cloth has been found to be a highly satisfactory material for this purpose. To prevent fraying or ravel ling along the edges of the terry cloth it has been found desirable to bind the edge portions of the harness with a fabric bias tape or binding.

In using the invention, the inverted cup-shaped member D is placed on the back 28 of the chair C with the flap 36 depending downwardly therefrom. The flap 36 is raised around the lower portion of the back 28 of the chair and then drawn upwardly to a position where the snaps 38 on the flap can be brought into removable engagement with the snaps 38 on the rear portion of the back piece 32. It will be noted in FIGURE 3 that there are two horizontally extending, vertically spaced rows of snaps 38 on the back piece 32, either of which rows may be used, depending on the depth of the chair back 23. After the harness has been so secured to the chair C, the child B is placed within the confines of the vest A and the harness closed as shown in FIGURES 1 to 3, with the straps 16 and 20 then being drawn to the rear of the chair and removably joined by the rings 18. To remove the child from the chair, the straps are simply separated and the panels 12 and 14 opened (FIGURE 4) whereby the child can be easily lifted from the harness.

Although the present invention is fully capable of achieving the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore mentioned, it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiments thereof and I do not mean to be limited to the details of construction herein shown and described, other than as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An infants harness for limiting the movement of an infant in a highchair having a seat, a back vertically spaced above said seat, and two arms that project for wardly from said back, which harness includes:

(a) a narrow inverted cup-shaped member that is mountable on said back;

(b) a flexible flap supported from the lower forward edge of said member, which flap is sufficiently long to be extended rearwardly and upwardly under said back to overlie a portion of said member;

(0) first means for removably connecting said flap to said member to hold said member on said back, which means is out of reach of an infant when he is positioned on said seat;

(d) a vest formed of a flexible sheet material to define a back and first and second forwardly disposed panels which overlap the chest and mid-section of an infant when he is positioned on said seat;

(6) second means for removably connecting an intermediate portion of said back of said vest to an intermediate forward portion of said member to permit limited torso movement of an infant wearing said vest when positioned on said seat relative to said back of said chair;

(f) two flexible straps affixed to said panels, which straps are sufficiently long to extend rearwardly of said back of said vest under said arms of said chair to hold said panels in said overlapping position; and

(g) third means on said straps for removably connecting end portions thereof together rearwardly of said back of said chair, and in a position wherein said end portions cannot be reached by an infant wearing said vest when positioned on said seat.

2. An infants harness as defined in claim 1 in which said first means comprises a plurality of male and female snaps mounted on said flap and cup-shaped member.

3. An infants harness as defined in claim 1 which further includes a transversely stretchable fabric that defines at least a part of said cup-shaped member to permit said cup-shaped member to be removably mounted on any one of a plurality of said backs which may vary in length.

4. An infants harness as defined in claim 1 wherein said cup-shaped member is further provided with a pocket which is rearwardly disposed when said cup-shaped member is in an inverted position on said back of said chair.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 357,597 Hazleton Feb. 15, 1887 2,635,245 Nigro Apr. 21, 1953 2,652,183 I-Ilivka Sept. 15, 1953 2,707,988 Shauk May 10, 1955 2,778,412 Trubitt Jan. 22, 1957 2,940,443 Baker June 14, 1960 

1. AN INFANT''S HARNESS FOR LIMITING THE MOVEMENT OF AN INFANT IN A HIGHCHAIR HAVING A SEAT, A BACK VERTICALLY SPACED ABOVE SAID SEAT, AND TWO ARMS THAT PROJECT FORWARDLY FROM SAID BACK, WHICH HARNESS INCLUDES: (A) A NARROW INVERTED CUP-SHAPED MEMBER THAT IS MOUNTABLE ON SAID BACK; (B) A FLEXIBLE FLAP SUPPORTED FROM THE LOWER FORWARD EDGE OF SAID MEMBER, WHICH FLAP IS SUFFICIENTLY LONG TO BE EXTENDED REARWARDLY AND UPWARDLY UNDER SAID BACK TO OVERLIE A PORTION OF SAID MEMBER; (C) FIRST MEANS FOR REMOVABLY CONNECTING SAID FLAP TO SAID MEMBER TO HOLD SAID MEMBER ON SAID BACK, WHICH MEANS IS OUT OF REACH OF AN INFANT WHEN HE IS POSITIONED ON SAID SEAT; 